20.3.3.1 Normal Operation

In normal operation the counter is counting clock ticks in the direction selected by the Direction (DIR) bit in the Control E (TCAn.CTRLE) register until it reaches TOP or BOTTOM. The clock ticks are given by the peripheral clock (CLK_PER), prescaled according to the Clock Select (CLKSEL) bit field in the Control A (TCAn.CTRLA) register.

When TOP is reached while the counter is counting up, the counter will wrap to ‘0’ at the next clock tick. When counting down, the counter is reloaded with the Period (TCAn.PER) register value when the BOTTOM is reached.

Figure 20-4. Normal Operation

It is possible to change the counter value in the Counter (TCAn.CNT) register when the counter is running. The write access to TCAn.CNT register has higher priority than count, clear or reload, and will be immediate. The direction of the counter can also be changed during normal operation by writing to the Direction (DIR) bit in the Control E (TCAn.CTRLE) register.